PARK AND CEMETERY. 
240 
monly handsome shrub when loaded 
with its bright red berries. The branch 
photographed represents it as it was in 
late October, but it holds its foliage 
until freezing weather comes. It is 
greatly esteemed by planters, both for 
its autumn beauty and because of its 
loving a damp situation, where many 
shrubs would not thrive. It is not every 
Prinos that is berry bearing; some have 
perfect flowers, others not, hence if 
about to purchase plants it is well to 
know what kind is being had. In a bed 
of seedlings there Will be all kinds. 
Some nurserymen take the trouble of 
grafting all seedlings with what they 
know is a berry bearing kind. Another 
way is to divide large clumps of the 
desired kind, but the increase this way 
is slow. It is a handsome shrub, as 
the illustration well shows ; and the 
■“natives” who bring holly wreaths to 
cities at Christmas time often use the 
berries of it instead of the evergreen 
holly which the purchaser is supposed 
to think they are, and which they 
closely resemble. 
Of the two evergreen hollies men- 
tioned, the Ilex opaca and Ilex aquifo- 
lium, the. former is the native one, ex- 
tending from far south to the eastern 
states, and from its uses at Christmas 
it is well known even where not hardy. 
The Ilex aquifolium is the English 
holly. It IS a prettier one than our 
own, its foliage is of shining green and 
wavy of outline, and it is commonly 
well set with berries on the fertile 
bushes. As to its hardiness, it stands 
the winters of Philadelphia when in a 
partially shaded place and where its 
wood ripens well in autumn. The 
writer has one which has stood two 
winters without injury to a leaf; and 
it is now well set with berries. There 
is hardly a place of any extent that has 
not a situation just suited to this 
beautiful holly. Laurel Hill Cemetery, 
Philadelphia, had a. beautiful specimen 
of it at one time. It died one winter, 
not from cold but from lack of mois- 
ture in the soil, for want of water in 
fact, many native trees sharing the 
same fate. 
Skimmia Japonica bears lovely red 
berries. It is but a dwarf bush, but 
entirely hardy here. It is one of the 
pot plants florists like to have for their 
Christma's sales, because to add to its 
list of merits it can be said of it that 
it is a hardy plant, which hastens its 
sale. 
Crataegus pyracantha or pyracantha 
thorn, as it is commonly called, bears 
orange colored berries. It makes but 
a moderate growth a year. Because of 
its ornamental features in winter it is 
much used in Europe for covering low 
walls, often in connection with Coton- 
easters, which are valued in the same 
way. 
Joseph Meehan. 
ARTIFICIAL IRRIGATION FOR SIDEWALK TREES 
Superintendent Jens Jensen of the 
West Side Park System of Chicago, 
has met with the difficult problem of 
preserving the trees on certain of the 
west side boulevards, where they ap- 
proach the business district, and he 
explained his method recently to the 
public in Chicago and also in an in- 
teresting communication to the Munic- 
ipal Journal and Engineer : 
That the greatest care is taken by 
this commission to preserve its trees 
in the healthiest possible condition is 
evident from the complete system 
which they have installed for their sub- 
irrigation. The method employed is 
shown in the accompanying illustra- 
tions. The trees are in general placed 
twenty-five feet apart and each tree is 
surrounded by a grating five feet square 
to permit ventilation of the soil imme- 
diately surrounding the tree. No en 
deavor is made to sod the strip in which 
the trees are placed, but this is cov- 
ered with six inches of cement con- 
crete. Each tree is protected by a tree- 
(Continued on p VI.) 
VENTILATING, WATERING AND PROTECTING SYSTEM FOR STREET TREES IN CHICAGO. 
